In today's computer-driven world, it is not uncommon for a user to rely upon multiple data sources in day-to-day activities. For example, a user may access and use many different data sources over a period of time. It becomes unmanageable for a user to track all of the different data sources, especially for users who rely on expediency and efficiency when using various data sources. To further complicate things, the data sources may be located on and/or associated with many different systems. For example, it is not uncommon for data to be stored remotely on different servers, as a well as locally on one or more user workstations, servers, handhelds, etc.
Correspondingly, it can be difficult in productivity applications to successfully find and connect to data for analysis. This includes applications such as MICROSOFT EXCEL, MICROSOFT WORD, MICROSOFT VISIO, and other applications. For example, setting up a connection to a database in EXCEL is a task that many users struggle with. If a user wants to connect to an open database connectivity (ODBC) data source or structured query language (SQL) Server Analysis Services cube, the user must know server names, cube names, table names, what type of connection to create, user credentials (e.g. username, password), etc. This can typically require multiple clicks and navigation through multiple menus, which requires knowledge of the procedure(s) and data source(s). Thus, in current applications, users are required to know a lot about various data sources in order to locate an existing data connection and/or create a new data connection, which can be a frustrating, time-consuming, and, in many instances, an unsuccessful process.